In 1959 I was 10 years old. Three of
us – Baba, Amma and self stayed in a house in Shankarpuram. My grandparents
stayed close by in an adjacent locality – Gavipuram. Prior to shifting to
Shankarpuram, my parents had stayed in Gavipuram for a long duration in a joint
family. At one point of time, our family decided to move to an independent house
and the three of us shifted to Shankarpuram in 1956.
One fine day in early 1960, my mother
along with me shifted to Gavipuram. My father continued to stay at home. After
some time I realized that my mother had shifted, to be close to her mother –
she was pregnant.
While waiting for my mother to
deliver, I had a ball in my grandparents’ place and elsewhere. The degree of
supervision was generally low and the fort was not guarded well. As long as I
did not attract the attention of my grandfather, all was well. Unknown to all
the members of the family, I used to sneak out and learn swimming in a lake and
a well. http://samundarbaba.blogspot.in/2010/06/bengaluru-days-1a-tribute-to-mr.html.
I was once lowered into a huge unused
drain near the house by my GF, as I was pestering my mother to permit me to go
to Nandi Hills with my elderly cousin and his friends.
While all this was happening, my
mother was admitted to ‘Jai Hind Nursing Home’ in Vishveshpuram and she
delivered a chubby boy under the supervision of Captain Dr. Sharada Devi INA 0n
03 apr 1960. Her husband was also a doctor and part of INA. Their only child
Late Subash Chandra was my classmate in MSS. A few days later the boy was named
‘Sudheer’.
Why this gap of 11 years between me
and my brother, I never understood, nor did it occur to ask my parents, as to
why they waited so long, it may have been some unplanned event or a planned strategy
– these were thoughts that crossed my mind as I grew older. Due to this rather large
gap in age we grew up differently in almost all aspects of life. There was
almost a generation gap between us .We had different friends, tastes,
professions, likes and dislikes. Even to this day I have a touch of regret for
not being sufficiently close to my brother – all due to disparity in age.
When Sudheer was seven years old, I left
home to join the NDA. Thereafter I visited Bangalore once a year during annual
leave. Under these circumstances I did not watch my brother grow up. My
memories are restricted to very few events that happened during my stay in
Bangalore. If I were to add all my memories about him in one bag – the
recollections would be…...
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| 1970 - Sudheer at 11 |
Sudheer was a very healthy child and
grew up to be a tall, strong boy. His physical attributes came from our maternal
side. He played club cricket as a reasonably good ‘Medium Pace’ bowler. To
maintain a good physique, he developed a more than ordinary interest in good
food – which was in plenty and my mother ensured that all his cravings were met
– she pampered him a lot – she also loved cooking and excelled in it. All this
resulted in a number of gastronomical binges. Like my parents, he was a pure
vegetarian. For some odd reason, he did not take up to curd - the food of the
Gods - for all South Indian Brahmins. I remember concocting a story when his
daughter ‘Chitty’ was four years old – I told her that when Sudheer was a baby
he fell into a cauldron of curd – similar to ‘Obelix’. Our neighbor’s son
‘Ramu’ – though in the same age group, was very thin and looked pretty
undernourished for his age. Once, their family doctor told Ramu’s mother to
feed him exactly what was being given to Sudheer. Over the years he developed a
penchant for good food and was very particular in what he ate, how it was
prepared, ingredients and so on. He was fond of cooking too.
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| Sudheer 2nd from left with his childhood friends on a Guava tree - Shankarpuram - 1973 |
During his school and college days,
he took active interest in the theatre. Under ‘Kappanna’s tutelage, he acted in
plays such as ’Kakana Kote’ and 'Tughlaq'. He travelled to many cities with the
troupe. I vividly remember attending the shows and later on hosting a dinner for
all his friends in Delhi and Mumbai.
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| Nandi Hills - 1978 with Father, Aunt and cousins |
His friends’ circle was small, but it
was a very tight knit circle. Even after all these years they remained close
and met regularly. Like him, all his friends were also non smokers, teetotalers
and vegetarians, to boot. All his friends became my friends too and would visit
me where ever I was posted. Even to this day when I meet them, we slide down
memory lane and vividly recall the wonderful times we have had. I remember
asking Sudheer and Tatappa to be the ‘Barmen’ for a ‘Scavenger Hunt’ in
Wellington, during my Staff College days. During the course of the party, Carol, wife of my colleague, Cdr Rick Pharoah Royal Navy, breaking out into terrible rashes.
Later, it came to light, that Tatappa was diluting dark rum with ‘Sikkim White
Rum’ thinking it to be plain Aqua and dishing it out to Carol.
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| Close friends in Srinagar - 1986 |
My course mate Vijay Shankar landed
up in our house one fine morning in Shankarpuram from his ‘Ganga Yatra’ way
back in 1971. Sudheer and our cousin Madhu, both, all of eleven, were alone at
home. Not knowing which hospitality route to take, they closeted themselves in
the dining room for some time and came out and offered him ‘Rum’ at 9.00 in the
morning!
Soon after his final B’com results
were declared in April 1980, our cousin’s husband Mr Hemmady asked Sudheer to
help him out in their new restaurant ‘Shanti Sagar’ in the Majestic area. This
was the first of the Sagars in Bangalore. Sudhi took up the job with great
enthusiasm and plunged himself into the work. Soon thereafter, he joined ‘Tata
Tea’ and remained with them till 1986.Later on he joined‘Titan
Industries Limited’.
He was very caring, reserved and simple in his ways. Barring his culinary fetish, he very rarely demanded anything else. He found a partner in Vishala, who would share his style of life and be a source of company and strength to him. She complemented him in many ways and filled up the little gaps that he may have had. They were married on 19 Feb 1988 .The apple of their eyes, Nivedita, was born on 14 may 1990. He doted on her. ‘Chitty’ as she was nicknamed, in return lived up to all his expectations and more. He was a caring husband and a dear father. As a brother, he admired me for the kind of person I was and loved me unconditionally. Though we had little in common, the strong bond of brotherhood we shared would last till the very end.
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During their honeymoon in Kodai - 1988
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| Chitti with her doll - 1992 |
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His commitment to his work was total.
As the saying goes ‘Work is Worship’ – he practiced this form of religion to
the very end. He had no vices – no distractions and his entire focus and
attention were directed towards his work. Even whilst standing outside the
sphere of his work, I could feel the intense loyalty he had towards ‘TITAN’. At
work, he was a Titan, a larger than life figure, who would go out of his way
to fight other’s battles be it someone’s well deserved promotion or someone
else’s troubles and whose voice would resound all over the office when he got
upset about delays that cost the firm. Above all, his strongest quality was integrity,
which I am very sure was singularly responsible for his rise in Titan He had a
great future ahead of him in Titan.
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| With CMD TITAN Mr Bhaskar Bhat after receiving the award |
He was extremely helpful to others. He
went out of the way to help deserving people secure jobs, give advice, bailout
people from difficult situations and so on. There are a number of people who
have benefited from his benevolence. He brought in a very high standard of
honesty in all his dealings in and out of his work place. He promoted fair play
with zeal. In return he gained a very large measure of good will, which was
amply evident when he was not well. A surge of volunteers to donate blood
whenever it was needed, endless offers of help to the family, calls from places
as far as China to find out his condition, constant support from the office,
where some of the expressions of gratitude to him.
During his period of sickness and after his demise 'Titan' has been a pillar of strength.The entire staff of Titan rallied around his family to provide support and solace.Sympathy and understanding shown by Titan has been exemplary.Titan is undoubtedly "A company with a soul".
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| Happy family- At Balehonnur - Apr 2006 |
Somewhere along the way God had made
other plans for him. The last one year was extremely critical and he went
through a series of medical complications. He fought bravely and was very keen
to get back to work. Destiny had its say and he passed away very peacefully at 1515h
on 06 Oct 2012.
His entire adult life has been summed
up in a memoriam written by Mr Harish Bhat , former COO of Titan.
M.V. Sudheer - In Memoriam
Sudheer’s tragic demise yesterday, at such a
young age, is a very big loss for all of us. Titan ran in his blood, and
was in his foremost thoughts at all times. As his daughter Nivedita tells
us, he was thinking of Titan all the time, even when he was seriously ill
during the past few months. Even his last evening alive was spent in a
meeting with Lokesh, his deputy. No wonder we admired him, even though, I
admit, we sometimes took his presence for granted.
Sudheer spared no efforts for the Company, and
gave himself no quarter for slack, either. During the many years I have
worked with him, I do not ever recall him saying “No” or “This is not
possible”. He always said “Yes, Sir” or “I will make this happen”, and in
virtually all cases, he delivered without fail. He put in significant
personal effort in making things happen in the procurement & materials area
that he led, directly taking up challenging matters of price and delivery with
hundreds of vendors across the world.
His forceful negotiating skills – sometimes
addressing vendors frankly on our cost challenges, at other times browbeating
them into agreement – were complemented by his ability to reach out to them,
and help build their businesses to viable and prosperous levels. He was
fiercely engaged with them, and the several superb vendor meets he organized
over the past few years, which I had the privilege of participating in, were
tribute to these high levels of engagement. I am told that, throughout
his long drives to Hosur and back, he was always on the phone, resolving one
matter or another.
Not once during the years I worked with him did
he ever represent to me a personal cause. Not once did he dwell on his
promotion, or remuneration, or some facility that he was not entirely happy with.
On the other hand, every conversation and discussion he had with me was about
work, about addressing a specific issue, or expanding the vendor base, ideas
for new sourcing or getting costs down. That is rare, and I
salute him for his unconditional commitment to Titan.
Of course, when he did get promoted to General
Manager two years ago, he was over the Moon in joy. HGR mentioned to me
the next day that Sudheer received his promotion letter with tears in his eyes,
and that his spontaneous reaction was – “Sir, I will do anything for
Titan.” That was always his philosophy.
HGR, as the Head of ISCM in those days, had
absolute trust and complete reliance on him. So did the heads of brands
and businesses, who silently but surely relied on his capability to get things
done. Despite the tsunami that struck Japan two years ago, disrupting
completely the production of Honda and Toyota cars in India, Sudheer ensured
that he got us critical Japanese components, including batteries and movements,
with little or no disruption in supplies.
At Hosur, you could hear his loud, booming voice
from a mile away; often shouting at some stubborn vendor who had incurred his
wrath, sometimes calling his teammates into energetic action, at other times
even singing a song or two with them. His love of life and food was well
known, including getting tasty home-cooked fare for his colleagues. For
our materials and procurement team, he was leader and friend, captain and
colleague. For all of us, he was the Materials Department of the
Watches business. We should be proud of all that he achieved, even as we
mourn his untimely loss.
Our thoughts go out
to his family – in particular, his wife and daughter – whom he doted on.
We will remember him forever, as a totally committed professional, a man of
impeccable integrity, a role model in his workplace, and a person whom all of
us genuinely liked very much. We pray to God to give his family the
strength to cope with this impossible loss. May His Soul rest in peace
Epitaph
"It's Not How Long You
Live; It's How You Live" - Anon
